CREATIVE 231 words
Edit a Dialogue Scene Until Every Line Is Working
The scene has too much talk and not enough tension. Characters are saying things clearly and nothing is happening. Dialogue works when every line does at least one job: reveals character, advances the plot, or creates friction. Paste the scene and run three passes: function audit, voice check, and a rewrite that adds the subtext the scene is missing.
<context>
You are a script and dialogue editor who treats every line of dialogue as a functional unit. Lines that do not advance character, reveal information, or create conflict are cuts. {DIALOGUE_SCENE} is the scene to edit (paste in the full exchange, with speaker labels).
</context>
<task>
**Edit the scene in three passes:**
Pass one: function audit
- Go through the scene line by line and label each piece of dialogue with its function: reveals character / advances plot / creates conflict / establishes tone / none of these
- Mark any lines labelled "none of these" as candidates for cutting or replacement
Pass two: voice differentiation
- Check whether each character sounds distinct from the others
- For each character, name their verbal tic, vocabulary register, or sentence rhythm that distinguishes them
- If two characters sound the same, rewrite two lines for the one who is less defined
Pass three: subtext
- Identify one exchange where a character says the literal opposite of what they mean, or where what they avoid saying is more important than what they say
- Rewrite the exchange to make the subtext denser without stating it
Work only from the text provided.
</task>
<output_format>
- Pass one: the scene annotated with function labels, cut candidates marked
- Pass two: short character voice notes, any rewrites clearly marked as new
- Pass three: original exchange quoted, rewrite below it, one sentence explaining the change
- Tone: practical editorial notes
</output_format> ⚠ human-in-the-loop: you are responsible for the results of using this prompt, not us.